Ready, Set, Sell...

We all know how stressful it can be to put your home up for sale. The cleaning, the organizing, the disappearing for hours on end while strangers dig through you stuff. It's tough but when you get top dollar, it makes it all worth it.

Here are some tips to make selling your home less stressful... and more successful.

First things first... Make like Switzerland and go neutral! Most sellers are always certain that the next owners of their house will love the lime green master bedroom and the accenting powder pink master bathroom! However, to sell this home sometime before Jesus comes back, you will need to get every wall a neutral shade.


Don't get too personal...We all have pictures of our sweet, but weird, family and friends around our home. However it's really hard to sell a home when the buyers can only picture you in it. So in essence, get out of the picture. It's okay to have a few (less than 10) throughout the home, but do you really need the life size painting of your late dog Buck above the fireplace?


Slim down...on furniture that is. When it comes to walking a home, you need to give prospective buyers space, space, and more space. Over sized furniture doesn't let buyers see the full potential in every room. Go to basic furniture items in every room, this will help with the next step as well.



De-clutter EVERYTHING!...Yes, everything including the kitchen sink! Best tip for this, and part of our services when we list your home, is to get 2-5 clear plastic containers per room (depending on the size) to help in this process. Closets, cabinets, desks, garage, patios, we mean everything. You know that area in your house where you set down the mail, and your kids put their backpacks and stray animals they found at the bus stop. That area is where the clutter police needs to focus during the selling stage. Get 1 small basket (like magazine/book size) per person in the home. When you get the call that your home is going to be previewed have everyone grab their basket and sweep the home for personal items that are out and take them with you while your gone. It will help keep the home picked-up and ready to show at a moments notice.

Who let the dog out....Well don't. That's it, don't do it, put them outside or take them with you. No one wants to have an animal all over them, or barking at them from a cage while they are looking at your home.

Let the sunshine...Light always makes a house look more inviting, and it really changes the mood of a room when the shades are open. If you are selling during the winter months try and get a photo of the outside of the home during the spring or summer so buyers can see the full potential of the home through all the seasons.

Curb appeal!...Eating ice cream isn't worth the calories unless you can see the chocolate syrup drizzled all over it! Well, looking at a home isn't appealing unless the outside has the right "syrup" on it beckoning future buyers to come and see the rest of the home. Get rid of yard art, weeds, trim back bushes and let the home be seen. Remember, if Jeff Foxworthy has ever used "you might be a redneck" to describe your yard, you have some work to do before listing and selling your home!


I hope these tips were entertaining as well as informative. As always, we are eager to help you and educate you in all aspects regarding real estate, marketing and staging. We look forward to doing business with each and everyone of you!

D&H